Effective Teamwork Questionnaire Essay

Answer each question in 200 to 300 words, using specific information from the text, â€Å"Helping Annie†, â€Å"Team Building†, and â€Å"Building a Team of Talent† videos, and your research and experience. 1. What are the characteristics of effective teams? How will you ensure your collaborative team works effectively? Effective team are important, and their functions crucial to their success. I have found that clear goals, relaxed environment, open communication, and freedom to express ideas and feelings are great ways to ensure success. In the video â€Å"Helping Annie†, the dynamics of the team were lost due to lack of information, who was right and who could be trustworthy. When team members meet, they should feel as though they blend in with the group. They should feel a commitment to the goals and achievements to the group. What I know about groups are, that having valued diversity, defined roles, balanced participation, and cooperative relationships help with moving the group to a positive outcome. As a participative leader, as it is said in our eBook Working In Groups, â€Å"there is a balance of primary roles and when team members know their roles, work to their strengths, and actively manage weaknesses.† (Engleberg, 2013, p. 55). I will commit myself to ensuring I respect commitments, consistent communication to the group, collaborate, and contribute to the group’s goals and ideas with valuable information that helps in the decisions. I will also be aware of the group’s diversity, talents and dynamics. I bring knowledge of how to deal with problems, planning techniques and ways to improve myself within the group. 2. How will you deal with behavior that hurts your team’s objectives? With conflict in a group environment, I would handle it with respect, recognition, focused on accountability and be aware of unfulfilled needs of that particular team member. I would not reward the difficult behavior nor would I encourage the disruptive behavior. I believe that if you ignore it or â€Å"sweep it under the mat† it takes time, energy away from the group, and I  would want the group to resolve it quickly. I would make sure that I/we do not citizen or â€Å"brand† that person as a trouble maker. I would work together with the group and the individual and encourage each other to focus on the group’s interests and not individual’s position. It is also important to look for opportunities that encourage and empower each team member in the group. I would express a sensitive listening ear to uncover the root of the problem. Listing out the objectives to the individual and the group and reminding them why we are here and how to accomplish them Practicing direct communications, body language and clarifying questions helps resolve the situation and gives the group clarity to the behavior. In dealing with behavior that is disruptive to the group can be a challenge in itself, however it can be resolved with patients and a good listener. 3. What are your proactive processes to keep a team member up to date if he or she misses a meeting? What are your backup plans if things are not working on your team? There are several great ways to keep a team member up to date. Develop and cultivate easy ways to stay connected with those that miss. Face-to-Face and computer-mediated communications are great ways to reconnect and share ideas, goals and feelings. Face-to-Face provide excellent results in effectiveness, comprehension, and gives opportunities to be educated on the use of technology. It builds up respect, inclusion and grows your professional relationship with the team member and group. Update through venues such as emails, skyping, this can be challenging to coordinate, this provides another source of information. This can save time, money and bring the meeting/information to others that live far away. When things do not work out as they are supposed to, I chose to take a moment and find out where things went areaway. Encourage others to share and discuss what happened and create new plans, goals that incorporate processes that help us stay on track. Back up plans help in always being prepared for when things don’t just right. When setting up your backup plans, tap into the group and find team members that have knowledge and expertise in planning. As I use this, it will set up the entire team in a supportive and positive atmosphere. 4. How will you use technology to support your team’s efforts? What are some  questions you should ask? Working with technology has made it easier to communicate, track the individuals / groups progress and increasing productivity. With using an assortment of media platforms such as emails, Skype, video conferencing,instant messaging, and facetalk. These software programs can assist in better group communication, making decisions, and discussing issues easily. I will educate, create a â€Å"how to† of resources that will include information on each media platform. I would bring the group together in collaboration to see where they are with technology and create a smaller group to assist in the training. As new technology is made available, have continued training and education of the group as to stay current with technology. As with new technology always assessing the software, cell phones, computers, servers and other products are current. This will produce a group that is collaborating, productive, which will benefit the company and group. Asking questions is a great way to understand and know your group. With technology, it is important to find out what media platforms the group are already using. I would also ask how can we stay on task with these different media platforms and which ones work best for the group. Stay consistent with the goal/ objective and have a group that through technology use, becomes one unit! 5. Is your team more task-focused or relationship-focused? Why? What are the implications to your team? I find that our group is a mixture of both task-focused and relationship-focused. I have seen just in the last class that we all want to succeed and grow from each others experience. With having the mixture of the two, the work is defined, and roles expected. There are structures in place; a plan devised and we are organized to meet our tasks. As the group continues to work together, there is a supportive, motivating, and collaborating group. We are concerned with each person ideas, thoughts and actions. With these two types of people in the group, we can be productive, accomplish a lot and have a good time in doing it. Although with task-focused or relationship-focused, set up activities and follow up and follow through. With tasks, you can do it with encouragement and empower each team member to always do their best. Through the recommendations from our text this week, have an agenda, plan out your tasks, involve each team member, listen, and encourage them. By engaging  your team, you can meet the challenges of business head on and with seasoned team members involved you can pull from their experiences and knowledge. They will become confident, learning new skills and lead successful change. REFERENCES Engleberg, Isa. (2013). WorkinWorking in Groups: Communication Principles and Strategies, Sixth Edition, by Isa N. Engleberg and Dianna R. Wynn. Published by Pearson.g in Groups: Communication Principles and Strategies, Sixth Edition, by Isa N. Engleberg and Dianna R. Wynn. Published by Pearson. (6th ed.). : Pearson.

My Life Unleashed Essay

Life is all but a matter of constancy, with the altering seasons and the varying tides vigorously wavering the enduring days of the lives of men. The evolution of the life of being a student remains a noteworthy space in my thoughts as my memories as a child will always be learned by heart, if not by everybody else, at least by myself. Or so I think at least by myself, lest I fail to remember that I had the companionship of good friends along the way, by no means abandoning me in times when I need them most. To be there for them when they, too, need someone to be with is only a portion of what sum of good deeds I must or feel to give them in return. And this is what I liked by being a child, apart from everything else that contributed to my identity to who I am today. It is my friends—my real friends that make me strong. College has been tough on me. I had to weigh several options as to what field to take—those were the nights where I could barely sleep thinking if I am to make the right decision. It was my friends who helped me decide. The primary reason why I chose [insert course here] is because the course in itself is competitive in today’s world. The course, moreover, reflects the scholastic principles of providing a major benefit to students in the [insert field of study] by putting a premium emphasis on the recent trends and advancements in today’s world of global competitiveness. The course is also one that seeks to refine the skills and knowledge of the students through a competition in [insert field of study] among its students just to name one. Moreover, the course is well-handled by faculty members who are very much qualified and are very much capable of instilling the necessary knowledge to the students inasmuch as the faculty as a whole is composed of teachers with reputations well beyond what one might expect. I am a flexible person, a jack-of-all-trades if you may consider. I love joining competitions. I love being challenged though I know for a fact that in every contest there is always a winner and a loser. I am a sport. I rise when I fall. But to tell you, losing for me is a hard thing—hence, it was through these unfortunate experiences that I was able to know myself. Not only did my refined skills and attitude became useful to us during times of dilemmas and crucial moments of getting into a halt on my fulfilling my dreams, but these factors also became a part of what I was able to impart to my friends. In a way, I have inspired them to do the same thing, to acquire the enhancements in their positive characteristics, and to use their meaningful experiences to have full control of their abilities and gifts—to encourage them to move forward after a downfall. I am fortunate to have friends who I can lean on. Part of my career thinking and objectives is that, after obtaining my degree I will bring forth the knowledge and skills that I have acquired into the far more practical planes in the world of [insert field of study]. However, prior to achieving such an end, I will put my best efforts in refining my comprehension on the field that I have chosen to pursue and in expanding my thoughts that revolve around the [field of study] arena. Apart from all these, I also intend to employ the vital information that I will learn through the course to the society at large. That is, I intend to contribute to a deeper understanding not only to the course but also to the generation that we have today and the generations to come through my scholarly contributions. All of these experiences and aspirations that I have shared a great fraction in my life in the sense that these served as the factors upon which I was able to steward my gifts and talents, refining these two along the way as my level of experience proportionally increase day after day. With the daily encounters that come across my way, I am able to contemplate on my personality and realign myself with these meaningful experiences so that I become guided as to what decisions I ought to pursue in my life. Such an understanding is of great use and help, as it has been back in the days when I was just starting in the science and math club, and, as far as I see it, nothing is as potent and as equally practical than having a wide range of experiences upon which one can be able to base his or her crucial decisions in life. These meaningful experiences have taught me a lot in my existence in the society at large and in stewarding my abilities and gifts. The Essence of Values The daily life experiences that every individual in this world comes across with contribute to the development of the self (Achebe, 1994). These experiences do not only come in a single strand nor pattern. Quite on the contrary, what makes these experiences contributive to the welfare of humanity is because these encounters come in various forms and in differing content. A well-rounded personality, then, can be achieved, though strictly limited, to the variety in the experiences that individuals get to have in their lives (Miedaner, 2000). Determination and decisiveness I believe, craft a person to become successful in one’s ordeals. A person who is determined builds confidence within. Believing that a person can do anything and surpass everything is a guarantee towards success as fear is out of the picture. Most people have fear and fail because they are indecisive. Being able to know what you want is a good start of taking challenges. Life is full of choices—and to reach a goal is to decide which path to take (Friedman, 2005). As much as I strongly believe in the idea that experiences shape the personality of a person in many different ways, these experiences can serve as a meaningful chapter in our lives as much as they have been significant to on my part. As far as my memory would not fail me, I do attest to the idea that experiences teach the individual person about being a steward of the gifts and talents that the self possesses. By having the full knowledge that these experiences contribute in a large part in the molding of the ability of the individual in bringing forth a rather full control or, at least, a strong grasp on one’s abilities to his or her advantage, their meanings would be far clear enough. References Achebe, C. (1994). Things Fall Apart: Anchor. Berger, K. S. (2005). The Developing Person, Through Childhood and Adolescence (7th ed. ). New York: Worth. Friedman, T. L. (2005). The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century (1st ed. ). New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Miedaner, T. (2000). Coach Yourself to Success : 101 Tips from a Personal Coach for Reaching Your Goals at Work and in Life (1 ed. ). London: McGraw-Hill.

Market research in another country Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Market research in another country - Essay Example Inside Edge feels Russia is an ideal market for its new product offering. The average temperature throughout the year in Russia is 39 degrees Fahrenheit (Climatetemps.com,  2012). The warmest it gets on average is 75 degrees Fahrenheit, proving to be one of the colder countries on the planet (Climatetemps.com,  2012). These temperatures alone justify Inside Edge’s entry into the Russian Flooring market similar to Can-A-Floor’s home market of Canada (hence the name). According to  "Global Research & Data Services"  (2013),  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Russian demand for flooring has been growing strongly with an average growth of 10.6% per year between 2002 and 2008. The situation in the market seems to be rather attractive for foreign flooring companies as the growth is predicted to continue in the following years (Global Research & Data Services, 2013). Because Russians see flooring as a way of establishing a comfortable living, the demand for these products is expected to contin ue to increase through 2015 (Marketresearch.com, 2013). This encouraging trend and high demand justifies the entry into the flooring market for any flooring manufacturer. Can-A-Floor is an engineered floating floor, similar in concept and design to a laminate, but with a heating element built in. Currently the most popular types of flooring in Russia are laminate and hardwood (Marketresearch.com, 2013). With Laminate being one of the top two popular flooring materials in the Russian market, Inside Edge can easily justify entering the market with its Can-A-Floor. Russia also is experiencing a declining unemployment rate along with a rising demand for new housing with its expanding middle-class (Marketresearch.com, 2013). The flooring market in Russia is on the rise with a trending increase in demand for all flooring products, home ownership on the rise, and unemployment slowing. These facts show the sustainability of the market while justifying Inside Edge’s entry into the market. Our

The Rise of the Papacy Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Rise of the Papacy - Research Paper Example Conquerors took over Roman Empire territories, which weakened the stronghold of Julius Caesar and Augustus for example, Odoacer took over Italy, German invaders ruled western provinces. Roman Empire fell after splitting into two parts; Western and Eastern empires ruled by separate Emperors1. This gave room for moral decadence, financial troubles, corruption, and weakening of military power. These factors provided a loop way for barbaric hordes to attack and seize the empire. Papacy power rose after the fall of Roman Empire led by the Bishop of Rome. Uprising of church supremacy was started way back in 6th century; Bishops of Rome were among the most acknowledged and idolized popes of the world. Catholic Church created their own institutions of power known as Papacy, which administered that citizens are being given their due rights by the government. Christendom provided a tranquil environment for Papacy to manifest over a long period of time. Roman Catholic Church is strongly identif ied with St. Paul and Peter who were disciples and messengers of God. This pressurized Roman emperor Constantine to legalize Christianity as the national religion. Popes were at first regarded as advisors in matters pertaining to the empire, later on, Bishops gained superiority and became judges on Ecclesiastical disputes within the empire which prompted its attainment of new powers. Creation of churches across the Empire was done by Western missionaries who led to the spread of communion churches throughout the Empire. During Diocletian’s reign, Christianity was not allowed to be practiced in Roman Empire and they were being persecuted .This practice continued for decades until Emperor Constantine tolerated Christianity and gave them freedom of operation in the country.1 Pope accessed large area to establish his rule.Conversely,the church spread out to non-western Empire individuals who got a direct channel to oversee the operations of the Emperor. Furthermore, Pope was best owed the universal powers over the church and no one had a right to limit him from exercising these powers. Apart from caring for souls, Bishops were involved in decision making, advice, and policy analysis within the empire. Papacy supremacy dates back to the holy bible where God gave Peter blessings to rule the earth. During the first three centuries of the reign of Christianity, church was involved in series of activities for instance; they acted as rulers within the Christendom, and resolved conflicts. Powers of Bishops increased to extent they ran the church parallel to the political systems. They could make their own policies and constitution without help from the politicians .Christians in the whole world complained about the powers and privileges Popes in Rome were commanding in the offices. This papal rule was not attained with ease; it was through numerous struggles between the holy and The Empire At Large. Every pope who was appointed must tussle to ensure that their posi tion in the Empire was never tainted by the political leaders for example, Saint Gelasius I who headed the church from 492 until 496 struggled with Anastasius emperor to liberate the church from oppression. To maintain its supremacy, Papacy extended its rule to the West in 6th to 8th Century in order to escape

Reading assigment Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Reading assigment - Assignment Example It is also a strategy that affirms the need for new business entities to tend to customers through the original ideas of the pioneer such as Halston. Overall, it ensures both the old and young can come together in terms of fashion. However, the initiative undertaken by the Net-a-Porter has a great impact upon copycat manufacturers and fast fashion retailers because they will find loopholes of exploiting the fashion market. This is through the use of less creative and innovative mechanisms such as reproduction and offering sales at cheaper prices to attract customers. On that note, the original business owner fails to attract his deserved royalties in that case causing infringement copyright issues. It is equally compounded by the blatant use of logos and designs that belong to Halston thereby aggravating the intellectual aspect of safeguard all creative materials of other artists. In other words, this strategy is wrought with different failures because both retailers and customers are not bound to get their bargains. One of the disadvantages to offering pieces of collection includes the fear of contravention of the existing intellectual and copyright laws. All materials displayed at the runaway show belong to Halston’s fashion empire the Net-a-Porter company. Another glaring disadvantage involves the wrapping, packaging, and eventual delivery that could fail to meet the targets of ideal customers in the market. This implies that Halston’s name could be misused to the demerit of his legacy and reputation in launching and re-launching new and old products respectively. Similarly, the designs will suffer integrity and authenticity issues during display because they lack a distinct collector after the presentation at the runaway shows or even galleries. It connotes the risks of engaging in second party merchandising. Consequently, from the Net-a-Porter perspective, there are various risks associated with this type of

Intolerance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Intolerance - Essay Example It is, in a sense, a human nature. This behavior is nicely captioned in the phrase â€Å"Us and Them†. Our tendency to think and feel in terms of â€Å"Us and Them† may have arisen early in human evolution, since it has adaptive consequences and universal presence. Although human beings have continually adapted to overcome adverse and potentially dangerous conditions during the course of evolution as we are not the naive servants of biology, however, we are still unmindful of the deleterious consequence of intolerance. Ideologies, alliances, and partners are built on the foundation of this structural division. The above reflections raise a wider issue about our motivations, posit a law of our psychological nature, or a necessary truth about all conceptually, or logically possible worlds. The preemptive immediate challenge is to accommodate with respect, justice, and good feeling to our diversity of national origin, ethnicity, religion, age, and gender etc., at a time wh en the world is faced with charged geo-political climate and dwindling economic resources. We can’t afford to have the luxury of any hedonistic outcomes such as tribal loyalty, jingoism, in group ‘Us’ aggrandizement, and out group, ‘Them’ disdain. It is important to understand how individuals respond to and adopt the principles of coexistence and evolve into a dynamic and vibrant society like brothers, or else will perish like fools as aptly said by, Martin Luther King, â€Å"We must live together as brothers, or perish together as fools.† The essay describes through two articles, observation and findings that demonstrate the intolerance towards a group or individual, ’us’ and ‘them’, with appropriate citation and reference. It will also explore similarity and differences with the Bennett article on transition shock. And demonstrate symptoms,  responses, stages and resolution that occur in each of the two articles. Milton J Bennett (1977, P.45-52) in ‘Transition Shock: Putting Culture Shock in Perspective proposed that cultural shock is but a variation and subset of reactions by significant change across a broad spectrum of circumstances. In a more interdependent world, survival depends more on cooperation than on competition, with the realization that countries with the highest disparity in wealth have the greatest incidence of stress, violence, and crime (Albee 2000, P.845-53). The powerful have been more impacted socially, and economically, from the consequences of intolerance; with the result have greater responsibility to exercise tolerance and justice. One does not have to look elsewhere to see the effects of oppression as in the United States itself has many of different kinds. Article1-The Stanford Prison Experiment Black men, though constitute less than 6% of the general U.S. population, they account for 48% of the state prison population (Haney & Zimbardo 1998, P. 709-22), the authors reflect on the lessons of their Stanford Prison Experiment, some 25 years after conducting it. They had put a few young, healthy people into prison like environment, after six days of the mock imprisonment the out come was shocking for the researchers as well as the general public, as within a short period, otherwise healthy, emotionally strong young

Rise of South Korea Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5250 words

Rise of South Korea - Essay Example The paper tells that Heavy and Chemical Industry Drive did not play any positive role in the South Korean growth miracle because in any case, some of the industries were headed towards expansion. Secondly, during the HCI drive, South Korea was still a low protection nation and the aimed industries had to quickly compete in the world market. Instead, the HCI drive harmed the South Korean economy as its growth rate fell by 2.3% between the years 1963-1982. Between 1979-1980, there was a decline in the EOCD manufacturers imports’ share, which was as a result of fall in light manufactures. Therefore, targeted sectors’ growth was at other sectors’ expense. Actually, South Korea’s economy only grew following the end of HCI in 1979, with more trade as well as financial liberalization following in the eighties. Trade openness policy/Outward orientation was one of the most important factors in South Korea’s growth. During 1961-1980, Korea’s exports gr ew at 23.7% in real terms. Over the period 1960-1975, export expansion was directly responsible for more than quarter of the growth of manufactured output. Next was Heavy and Chemical Industry (HCI) Drive (1973-1979), which targeted the development of selective heavy and chemical industries (e.g., steel, automobiles, shipbuilding, etc.). This drive comprised Tax concessions policy and Trade policy reversal. It also comprised policies that directed bank credit at low interest rates – almost 60% of the bank loans and 75% of the manufacturing investment went to targeted industries. In April 17, 1979, Comprehensive Stabilization Program was developed, and it ended HCI drive. In the short run, there was tighter fiscal and monetary policy and liberalization in the long run. In 1980s, Stabilization and Liberalization policy was developed – import liberalization saw the reduction of average nominal tariff rate 24% (1983) to 19% in 1988 and to 11% in 1990. Due to the liberaliza tion financial sector, there was no more preferential interest rates for export industries and Chaebols, commercial banks were privatized, directed credit was relaxed, and the financial sector was opened up to FDI. Growth returned to pre-HCI levels of 9.9% 2. What was the role of Chaebols in South Korea’s economic performance before and after the East Asian Crisis? Chaebols were large family-managed business groups that had close relationship with the government of South Korea and depended on Korean government finance heavily. They received preferential allotment of grants, preferences in taxation and benefited from government sale of â€Å"enemy property† factories. The Chaebols followed the Confucianism approach to management and they took advantage of quick growth in exports and demand and expanded very quickly in the world market and became producers of major international brands. In 1950s and 1960s South Korea experienced economic success and Chaebols were major c ontributor in this – they were able to respond to market signals and outward looking export let strategies. The success factors of the Chaebols can be attributed to the fact that they ssuccessfully responded to such market signals as price, market opportunity and factor cost, outward looking strategies favoring export-led growth and a non-discriminatory government policy towards them. The Chaebols were therefore positive contributors of the amazing economic transformation and industrialization in South Korea, with the annual per capita GDP current prices reaching 79 dollars in 1960. This was particularly before the East Asian Crisis. However, Chaebols failed during the AFC 1997-1998, which marked the beginning of South Korea’s structural problems. Chaebols debts foreign and Non performing loans were exposed and in 1999, the government, under the pressure to get tougher with them, introduced a policy to rationalize their activities and do away with non-performing choebo l affiliates as well as